Communication terminals may transmit and receive optical signals through free space optical links. In order to accomplish this, such terminals generally use acquisition and tracking systems to establish the optical link by pointing optical beams towards one another. For instance, a transmitting terminal may use a beacon laser to illuminate a receiving terminal, while the receiving terminal may use a position sensor to locate the transmitting terminal and to monitor the beacon laser. Steering mechanisms may maneuver the terminals to point toward each other and to track the pointing once acquisition is established. A high degree of pointing accuracy may be required to ensure that the optical signal will be correctly received.